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Frequency of Pneumoconiosis and Related Factors in Ceramic Workers Admitted between 2016 - 2018 to the Occupational Diseases Clinic of a University Hospital in Turkey
Abstract
This cross-sectional study evaluated the medical records of 216 ceramic workers admitted to the Occupational Diseases clinic of a university hospital in Turkey, between May 2016 and June 2018. The sociodemographic characteristics, detailed occupational history, physical examination findings, respiratory function test results, and radiological results (chest x-ray and/or High-Resolution Computed Tomography-HRCT) of the workers were documented. Chest x-rays were evaluated by two occupational disease specialists with ILO pneumoconiosis certification.
According to gender, 213 patients were male and 3 female. Pneumoconiosis was detected in 34 (11.1%) of the patients, all were male. There was a statistically significant correlation between total time of dust exposure and pneumoconiosis diagnosis (p=0.002). In total, 80.6% of patients were asymptomatic at presentation to the clinic. According to the evaluation of the standard chest radiography of the cases, most of the opacities were characterized as p (120, 55.6%) or q (13, 6.0%) and observed in mid and upper zones; 10 patients showed s opacity (4.6%) and 1 patient showed r opacity (0.5%). Spirometry results of the cases who were categorized according to the results of ILO radiological assessment were compared and no statistically significant difference was found between the groups (p>0.05). When the HRCT results of 196 workers were evaluated, 142 cases (65.7%) were shown reticular opacity, 87 (40.3%) nodule, and 2 cases (0.9%) large opacity.
These results emphasize the importance of conducting follow-up studies in workers exposed to respirable particles in the ceramic industry and reforming health policies related to pneumoconiosis.
Keywords
References
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Iranian Journal of Health, Safety and Environment e-ISSN: :2345-5535 Iran university of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran